Puglia (or Apulia in Italian) isn’t on everyone’s radar. It should be. Not only is it beautiful, but Puglia contains these unique old houses that have been turned into country inns. Mostly the Trulli houses exist in and around Ostuni and Alberobello. If you search on a map of Italy, you’ll find them way down south, the boot of Italy, on the Adriatic side, just south and inland from Bari (a city on the Adriatic). If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to stay at one of the Trulli inns.
The history of Trulli houses is very interesting – it’s a legend, and there doesn’t seem to be any proof of this. Trullo (singular) were peasant huts, and usually no more than two were built next to one another – one for people, one for livestock. Back in the very olden days, the tax collector visited homes annually to collect taxes. You paid based on your home, its size, etc. So the good folks of Puglia decided that they’d just dismantle their homes (I suspect the original Trulli homes were stacked tufa or limestone as you see above, clear down to the ground). There was no mortar (now they use rocks and mortar for the bottom portions). The house could be dismantled in a matter of a few hours, the tax collector came to visit saw no house, so they paid no taxes at all – the house was just a pile of rocks. Then the next day they’d rebuild it for another year. If you click on the Trullo link above, you can read a whole lot more about the origin, history and construction of them.
Most trullo were single huts, with only a few joined, and most were abandoned when farms failed. In recent years enterprising people have bought the land and the run-down trulli houses, did tons of work on them, re-worked them, adjoined them, built other buildings near them, and voila, you have a country inn. At the Masseria Cervarolo, where we stayed (above) the couple/family who bought it put in years of renovation and they say that it doesn’t make a very large income for them, but it’s enough. The day we arrived photographers and models were doing a photo shoot at the Masseria in a variety of casual to elegant clothing. 
There above is a bigger photo of the inn. (The owners sent me their photo – isn’t it lovely?) The entrance gate is off to the left. Some rooms are in the square building, and then a few lucky people/families can stay in the trulli houses. The restaurant is a separate building off to the left, and a generous parking lot further down the gentle slope.
Here’s a photo of my room. The living room actually had 2 day beds for additional sleeping. There was a TV, although I don’t think they received any English stations. Off to the far left through that alcove was the bathroom. Photo down below. It was a room addition and didn’t have the trulli cone roof. The bathroom was charming. And the lighting throughout was lovely – soft light, warm. Next to the bed there’s a little niche (see it?) and there was a tiny little indirect light inside which was the last light I turned off when I went to sleep at night. Each of the two trulli houses had a door and the glass in them provided the only exterior light. So they manage to include some nice lights here and there to provide ample light.
Each day we were there (we stayed 3 nights) we took a day trip somewhere. There are so many little villages in the area, many of them containing trulli houses. The most memorable was Alberobello. I have a bunch of photos from there. I think I should write up a separate post about that one.
Of the 3 nights we were there, we had dinner at the Masseria two of them. It was an exquisite meal both times, about 5 courses, for 30 euro per person. A bargain. So that I don’t make this post too awfully long, I’ll write up a separate post with pictures of the meals we had at the Masseria. The Masseria has a good reputation for their food, and they hold weddings and events on the grounds. In the summer, I’ll bet it’s beautiful. It was lovely when we were there, although cold. 
I thought the soapstone sink was just adorable. But then, I love these kinds of hand-made things; it’s so European. The shower was all rock, with a slate floor. It also had a heated towel warmer. I used that to dry my laundry. So helpful!
It takes a bit of getting used to, to use the showers in Europe. Not only the different ways of just turning on the water, but Europeans are much more efficient about using water. We think nothing of using gallons of water. In Europe, you get a bit more than a trickle, maybe a triple trickle and that’s your shower strength. I have short hair so it doesn’t take much, but people with long hair – well, it takes awhile to rinse shampoo out when you have a trickle of water. But you get used to it. It’s just the way it is!
The photo below is the main (public) living room at the Masseria. We enjoyed a glass of champagne with our group before we went to dinner in the restaurant. I’ll have to do a write-up about the ceramics we saw in Puglia. I had no idea it is such a mecca for ceramics. One of the days we visited a ceramics factory. More on that later.
hddonna
said on April 24th, 2015:
These are so charming, what fun to stay there! Thank you for sharing your travels with us, Carolyn. I’m looking forward to hearing about the meals!
Just finished writing up the meals in Puglia only. A long post with a jillion photos. Fava beans was the food of the day. . . carolyn t